...By
the way, have you any specimens of English braille especially printed for
those who have lost their sight late in life or have fingers hardened by long
toil, so that their touch is less sensitive than that of other blind people? I
read an account of such a system in one of my English magazines, and I am
anxious to know more about it. If it is as efficient as they say, I see no
reason why English braille should not be adopted by the blind of all
countries. Why, it is the print that can be most readily adapted to many
different languages. Even Greek can be embossed in it, as you know. Then, too,
it will be rendered still more efficient by the "interpointing
system," which will save an immense amount of space and paper. There is
nothing more absurd, I think, than to have five or six different prints for
the blind....

This
letter was written in response to a tentative offer from the editor of The
Great Round World to have the magazine published in raised type for the blind,
if enough were willing to subscribe. It is evident that the blind should have
a good magazine, not a special magazine for the blind, but one of our best
monthlies, printed in embossed letters. The blind alone could not support it,
but it would not take very much money to make up the additional expense.

To
THE GREAT ROUND WORLD

Cambridge,
Feb. 16, 1901.

The
Great Round World,

New
York City.

Gentlemen:
I have only to-day found time to reply to your interesting letter. A little
bird had already sung the good news in my ear; but it was doubly pleasant to
have it straight from you.

It
would be splendid to have The Great Round World printed in "language that
can be felt." I doubt if any one who enjoys the wondrous privilege of
seeing can have any conception of the boon such a publication as you
contemplate would be to the sightless. To be able to read for one's self what
is being willed, thought and done in the world--the world in whose joys and
sorrows, failures and successes one feels the keenest interest--that would
indeed be a happiness too deep for words. I trust that the effort of The Great
Round World to bring light to those who sit in darkness will receive the
encouragement and support it so richly deserves.

I
doubt, however, if the number of subscribers to an embossed edition of The
Great Round World would ever be large; for I am told that the blind as a class
are poor. But why should not the friends of the blind assist The Great Round
World, if necessary? Surely there are hearts and hands ever ready to make it
possible for generous intentions to be wrought into noble deeds.

Wishing
you godspeed in an undertaking that is very dear to my heart, I am, etc.

TO
MISS NINA RHOADES

Cambridge,
Sept. 25, 1901.

...We
remained in Halifax until about the middle of August.... Day after day the
Harbor, the warships, and the park kept us busy thinking and feeling and
enjoying.... When the Indiana visited Halifax, we were invited to go on
board, and she sent her own launch for us. I touched the immense cannon,
read with my fingers several of the names of the Spanish ships that were
captured at Santiago, and felt the places where she had been pierced with
shells. The Indiana was the largest and finest ship in the Harbor, and we
felt very proud of her.

After
we left Halifax, we visited Dr. Bell at Cape Breton. He has a charming,
romantic house on a mountain called Beinn Bhreagh, which overlooks the
Bras d'Or Lake....

Dr.
Bell told me many interesting things about his work. He had just
constructed a boat that could be propelled by a kite with the wind in its
favor, and one day he tried experiments to see if he could steer the kite
against the wind. I was there and really helped him fly the kites. On one
of them I noticed that the strings were of wire, and having had some
experience in bead work, I said I thought they would break. Dr. Bell said
"No!" with great confidence, and the kite was sent up. It began
to pull and tug, and lo, the wires broke, and off went the great red
dragon, and poor Dr. Bell stood looking forlornly after it. After that he
asked me if the strings were all right and changed them at once when I
answered in the negative. Altogether we had great fun....

My
teacher and I expect to be present at the meeting tomorrow in
commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of Dr. Howe's birth; but I
very much doubt if we shall have an opportunity to speak with you; so I am
writing now to tell you how delighted I am that you are to speak at the
meeting, because I feel that you, better than any one I know will express
the heartfelt gratitude of those who owe their education, their
opportunities, their happiness to him who opened the eyes of the blind and
gave the dumb lip language.

Sitting
here in my study, surrounded by my books, enjoying the sweet and intimate
companionship of the great and the wise, I am trying to realize what my
life might have been, if Dr. Howe had failed in the great task God gave
him to perform. If he had not taken upon himself the responsibility of
Laura Bridgman's education and led her out of the pit of Acheron back to
her human inheritance, should I be a sophomore at Radcliffe College
to-day--who can say? But it is idle to speculate about what might have
been in connection with Dr. Howe's great achievement.

I
think only those who have escaped that death-in-life existence, from which
Laura Bridgman was rescued, can realize how isolated, how shrouded in
darkness, how cramped by its own impotence is a soul without thought or
faith or hope. Words are powerless to describe the desolation of that
prison-house, or the joy of the soul that is delivered out of its
captivity. When we compare the needs and helplessness of the blind before
Dr. Howe began his work, with their present usefulness and independence,
we realize that great things have been done in our midst. What if physical
conditions have built up high walls about us? Thanks to our friend and
helper, our world lies upward; the length and breadth and sweep of the
heavens are ours!

It
is pleasant to think that Dr. Howe's noble deeds will receive their due
tribute of affection and gratitude, in the city, which was the scene of
his great labors and splendid victories for humanity.

I
am glad you liked my letter about Dr. Howe. It was written out of my
heart, and perhaps that is why it met a sympathetic response in other
hearts. I will ask Dr. Hale to lend me the letter, so that I can make a
copy of it for you.

You
see, I use a typewriter--it is my right hand man, so to speak. Without it
I do not see how I could go to college. I write all my themes and
examinations on it, even Greek. Indeed, it has only one drawback, and that
probably is regarded as an advantage by the professors; it is that one's
mistakes may be detected at a glance; for there is no chance to hide them
in illegible writing.

I
know you will be amused when I tell you that I am deeply interested in
politics. I like to have the papers read to me, and I try to understand
the great questions of the day; but I am afraid my knowledge is very
unstable; for I change my opinions with every new book I read. I used to
think that when I studied Civil Government and Economics, all my
difficulties and perplexities would blossom into beautiful certainties;
but alas, I find that there are more tares than wheat in these fertile
fields of knowledge....